Thousands of men poured into no man's land at the sound of the whistle, all ready and waiting for the horror of battle to begin. Everyone knew the horrors that awaited you on no-man’s land. No one expected to get through a push unscathed, Royce included.

As soon as his feet breached no man’s land, he charged with everything he had. His feet pounded across the frozen ground at full pelt, he knew what awaited anyone who dared to dawdle too long in the charge.

He could hear his friends close behind him as they and thousands of their comrades rushed forward. Their screams and cries of bravery echoed across no man's land as they rushed towards the German trenches.

Yet despite the ferocity of their charge, the Germans gave no answer. No machine guns were mowing men down in a hail of bullets, no snipers picked off the corporals and no rifle fire engulfed them.

No man's land was silent except for the thundering of feat and charges of British soldiers.

It was possible the germans had left their position and retreated but Royce was not about to bet his life on that fact and so he kept up his charge. He sprinted through no-man’s land with his rifle held close and ready should he need to use it.

An artillery crater provided a momentary obstacle as Royce’s momentum carried him down and sent him sprawling into a small pool of blood and mud.

It was a foul concoction but one Royce was no stranger to, with grim resolve, he wiped the blood and mud from his mouth and pushed himself back to his feet.

“Get moving Royce,” Tommy called as he helped Royce to his feet. With that, the two soldiers scampered out the crater and joined their brothers in the assault.

The attack remained unimpeded by german gunfire, a fact Royce was grateful for. Any day he didn’t have to see the bodies of his comrades scattered across no man’s land was a day to be thankful for.

And as Royce continued his charge, the complete lack of corpses was becoming increasingly apparent. No man’s land was empty of the dead.

Must have been wiped clean by artillery fire, Royce thought as the first lines of german trenches became increasingly closer.

He was not the only one drawing near and as the first trench got closer, the charge picked up the pace, like a racer approaching the finish line. But there would be no celebrations here, no, the moment Royce jumped down into the trench, he levelled his gun and readied himself to fire on the first signs of german activity.

There were none, only the imprints of boots and long fired shell casings. And as Royce’s eyes swept the trench, he was greeted by the sound of his friends landing behind him. Despite this, they remained silent as they continued to press forward and sweep the trench.

They pushed further in through the first trench as more of their comrades began to fill in around them. With a quick hand signal, Royce gestured for them to follow him down the next trench which he believed would take them to the support trench.

The complete lack of opposition surely meant the system was abandoned but despite this fact, Royce still felt completely on edge, his heart was beating rapidly and his breathing heavy. Even with these overwhelming sensations, Royce continued forward, he would go first, anything to keep Tommy and his comrades safe.

And before Royce knew it they had reached the support trench, it was just as silent as the others but as Royce and his group pushed forward, they found what was left of the German defenders.

Bits and pieces of them were splattered around the trench, the mud walls were covered in flecks of red blood and no piece larger than a hand was recognisable. Their uniforms were tattered to bits and their weapons discarded across the trench.

And at the far wall of the trench stood and simple wooden entrance to what was likely the german tunnels systems, the best place for an ambush to emerge from.

Royce kept his gun focused on that entrance as more soldiers rushed to fill the gaps. He used a flipped over table as a makeshift barricade and knelt behind it, if any germans emerged he would cut them down. But before he did that, removing the hand he had accidentally knelt on was a priority.

“The artillery really tore the bastards a new one,” Gibson muttered as he observed what remained of the enemy.

“Indeed, going to need a shovel to clean up this mess, seems we owe the artillery lads a drink,” added Smith.

“I don’t know, never known artillery to leave bite marks,” Royce spoke mindlessly as he lifted the hand from his knee and gestured to the distinct bite marks that had cleaved it in two.

“Don’t be a daft cunt, some dog just got in here before us,” Gibson muttered as he picked up the hand and tossed it to one side.

A moment later Royce and every one of the other fourteen soldiers turned their weapons straight on the entrance, they had all seen the same thing, a flicker of movement.

“Move, clear these tunnels now!” Lance Corporal Pyre commandeered.

“Yes sir,” the soldiers responded as they took careful steps toward the entrance. In a practised attack, the soldiers rushed to gather the nearby torches and lamps as Royce moved once again to be the first one in the line of fire.